I welcome the opportunity to condemn the New South Wales Coalition Government’s decision to downsize Grafton Gaol to a remand centre on Grafton Cup Day (July 12, 2012), axing 90 Corrective Services, Justice Health and TAFE jobs worth an estimated $10 million a year to the local economy….

The Liberal Premier of New South Wales Barry O’Farrell, his National Party Deputy Andrew Stoner and newly-elected Nationals State Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis got everything wrong.

It was an absolute debacle -- the ideological rush to cut costs, I knew to be incorrect and was later confirmed by the revealing of the $1-billion budgetary mistake, the immediacy of it, refusing to consult with locals directly, and no plans put in place for the workers, their families, and the City of Grafton…..

I met on site at the picket, with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, who were there protesting the jobs going and deeply worried for inmates, up to 70 per cent of them indigenous, being moved to Kempsey, Cessnock or other faraway gaols.

Despite what we know from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which recommended that inmates have regular contact with family members, there were no transition plans in place….

There are many cruel impacts caused by this callous treatment; TAFE teachers who were offered a redundancy but then told they cannot go into teaching elsewhere for 12 months under some State Government rules.

These rules could have been relaxed for them….

In the wash-up, my understanding is that 90 local jobs were lost and only five Corrective Services staff ended up transferring to Cessnock Gaol, where a new wing reportedly has remained vacant due to a lack of staff.

The terms of reference to the Committee highlight many of the questions Clarence Valley Council has also been asking. How could one of the largest, highest paying employers be taken away from our community without a full economic, social and

financial analysis, a Rural Impact Statement and without consultation?

Obviously the community as a whole agrees, given the extent of community outrage, and the week long blockade of the jail which is well documented in the media.

The loss of over 100 jobs has a huge impact in a regional area of high socio-economic disadvantage (the Clarence Valley ranks on the Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage index near the bottom at 934 out of 2,000, compared to Sydney which

has indexes well over 1 ,000) and an average wage income only two thirds of the state average input/output modelling conducted by Council shows for every 1 person employed directly by Corrective Services in Grafton, another job was created

indirectly. Therefore the loss of 100 employees has a result of losing 200 jobs from the Clarence Valley economy….

In summary, the downsizing of the Grafton Correctional Centre had no consultation, no account of socio-economic impacts to an already disadvantaged community, no sympathy to impacts on corrective centre staff who in general will be forced to leave

Grafton for employment, and definitely no account of the important role this centre had for families of prisoners, who obviously have little or no financial ability to move with their loved ones.

It could be, and has been argued, by this State Government, that Grafton Gaol has not ‘closed’ and therefore there have been no broken promises. However the reality is that Grafton Gaol no longer exists. It has been effectively closed. What has taken its place is a transient centre that houses approximately 80% less offenders, offering little more than a reception and processing function.

There are no visits, no buy-ups, no education, drug and alcohol counselling, psychology and mental health services, no industries where offenders can learn valuable work skills. The entire minimum security area has been ‘mothballed’ and locked down. The oldest wing has been emptied. All industry areas and education areas, classrooms and group rooms are abandoned. The administration block has also been closed.

Grafton Gaol is a shell of what it was. Emptied buildings, abandoned office equipment, idled resources, silent corridors and overgrown gardens. Only memories now fill the many voids.

When Premier Barry O’Farrell visited Grafton on Jacaranda Thursday (November 3, 2011) in support of candidate Chris Gulaptis, he dismissed as ‘lies’ the PSA’s claims that Grafton Gaol had been slated to close by the Government.

“I can also give you an iron-clad guarantee that Grafton Gaol is not closing,” the Premier told The Daily Examiner.

Regardless of this assurance, when the axe came down seven months later, prison officers said it was inmates, not management, who first revealed they would be losing their jobs.

So much for consultation….

Tellingly, Nationals candidate for Clarence Chris Gulaptis declined to meet with any

I know that at the Grafton Correctional Centre that some of the Correctional Officers who lost their employment with the recent changes there, had transferred from Berrima and Parramatta Correctional Centres. These very same people had sold their homes after the closure of the Berrima and Parramatta Correctional Centres and moved their families to Grafton - only to lose their jobs at Grafton Correctional Centre a short time later. This is something that citizens in Australia in 2012 should not have to put up with. But what can most people do? Not much.

Because once the Government is moving in a certain direction, the impacts of policies such as prison closures on the lives of workers and their families appears to be of little consequence.

No comments:

Search the Web/Blog

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
[Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]

NSW North Coast

Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Moggy Musing

Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirlto allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.

A your vote or no bridge musing:This is the position Nationals MP for ClarenceChris Gulaptistakes on the second Grafton Bridge in the Clarence Valley -The NSW Coalition has committed to building a second bridge in Grafton and we have reserved $177 million from Restart NSW to its construction. The $177 million is currently listed as unallocated on the Statement of Uncommitted Funds released by NSW Treasury. The Coalition would have to be re-elected to ensure the $177 million was allocated to the construction of the Grafton Bridge.

I hope Clarence Valley voters are noticing the admission that there is no $177 million allocated in the 2014-15 NSW Budget or forward estimates. Apart from the $429,275 covering the quality assurance contract won by Geolink this year there appears to be no guaranteed money and any further funding to actually progress and build the new bridge may not be in the 2015-16 budget – or in the budget the year after that or the year after that or the year after that……

An arrogance personified musing:After the first Clarence Valley Council meeting he attended an angry little local pollie, elected by default in 2015 and with a little over one year's past experience in local government 27 years ago, is reportedly "pleased with the overall performance" of his fellow councillors – all of whom have represented their communities for far longer than he. Happy to plead 'new chum' status to avoid sitting on more than one committee, but willing to try and bully the meeting when it went on too long for his liking. Oh, dear. This does not bode well for the future.

A candidate who? musing:Rumours are circulating that former Nats MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell was thinking about standing at the March 2015 NSW election – until the Nationals allegedly threatened him with looking into his false statutory declaration again. Surely not!

A questioning musing: What was one of Adani Mining Pty Ltd's company cars doing parked at the corner of Victoria & Prince streets in Grafton on or about 29 January 2015? Apparently once this car was sighted around 20 metres from Nationals MP for ClarenceChris Gulaptis' electoral office speculation began about what a representative of this multinational Indian mining company was doing in the Clarence Valley.

A telling it like it is musing:In theSunshine Coast Dailyon 31 January 2015 - “News Corp's biased coverage during the campaign was appalling. Its agenda was clear with the front page headlines claiming bikies were backing Labor, followed up by a front page endorsement of Mr Newman last Sunday. The growth of social media, and alternative, independent news sources meant the paper's view mattered little in the end.”

Athought to ponder musing:

In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?

An adoptionmusing:Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.